★ PT Mystery Players Tickets

Port Townsend Kiwanis presents · The 20th Anniversary of the Almost Annual Dinner & A Murder

Once Upon a Time in Port Townsend

A town built on vision, courage, and mayhem. Dinner is served, the drinks are poured, and somebody at the table is not going to make it to dessert.

When
Dec 4 & 5, 2026Friday & Saturday · Doors 5 PM
Where
Oscar Erickson Bldg.Jefferson County Fairgrounds
Admission
$60Dinner, dessert & show
Buy Tickets Online Reserve a Table for Six Advance sale only · sales close November 30
2026 show poster: Once Upon a Time in Port Townsend, over a photo of Water Street in the 1880s
Written by Ramon Dailey with Ashley Schenkel
Directed by Ramon Dailey

The Players

The PT Mystery Players, a troupe of local amateurs who donate every hour and every laugh.

The Supper

Catered by Thysen & Debi Scott of GBF, God Bless Food. Drinks at the bar.

The Tables

Seats are sold singly or by the table of six. Businesses: this makes a great holiday party!

About the show

Dinner, drinks, and the dead. You do the detecting.

Since 2006 the Mystery Dinner has been Port Townsend's loudest, best-fed night of amateur theater. This December marks our twentieth anniversary, and we are heading back to the 1880s, when this town was going to be the New York of the West and a fair number of people were willing to kill for a piece of it.

Here is how the evening unfolds.

  1. Doors open, 5 PMFind your table, find the bar, size up your tablemates. Can they be trusted?
  2. Act oneThe story opens on stage. Watch closely. The clues are already piling up.
  3. Dinner is servedA gourmet dinner with dessert from GBF. Meanwhile, the sheriff makes a few "arrests" at the tables, and bail is posted in cash for the children's programs.
  4. Question the suspectsAfter dinner, it's your chance to grill the suspects. Ask anything. Look for the lie.
  5. Name the killerTurn in your solution and find out whether you had it right.
The cast on stage in costume at the end of a recent show
The Players take their bow. Costumes encouraged for the audience, too.
★

Should I bring cash?

Yes, it is a good idea. The bar takes it, the bail collectors take it, and the auction for the best table in the house definitely takes it.

Can I come in costume?

Please do. Bustles, bowlers, boots, and six-shooters, but not real ones! All our murders are make believe. We love it when the audience gets into the show.

Who benefits?

Proceeds fund PT Kiwanis children's programs, which in past years have included:

  • Grant Street Elementary Birth-to-3 program and pre-school
  • OlyCAP Head Start and Early Head Start
  • Jefferson County Nurse-Family Partnership home visits
  • Port Townsend Library early reading programs and Books for Babies
  • Olympic Angels and foster family support groups

A little history

Dinner and a Murder began in 2006 under Bob and Kathleen Logue as a fundraiser for the OlyCAP RSVP program. When Bob retired, David Crozier brought the show under the Port Townsend Kiwanis Club, where it has raised money for children's programs ever since.

Cast & crew

Wanted: the PT Mystery Players

A ruthless gang of outlaws who give all their time and talent to the cause. We are deeply grateful for them, and they are almost certainly guilty of something.

Photos of the new faces are on their way.

WantedDead or alive
Mary Crozier

Mary Crozier

As Hattie Honeywell

Mayor of Port Townsend

WantedDead or alive
David Crozier

David Crozier

As Cranky Doodle

War Veteran

WantedDead or alive
Jan Boutilier

Jan Boutilier

As Catastrophe Jan

Just Passing Through

WantedDead or alive
Jim Guthrie

Jim Guthrie

As Sheriff Wyatt Derp

The Law

WantedDead or alive
Jennifer Mead

Jennifer Mead

As Squirrel Tooth Alice

Madame of the Palace

WantedDead or alive
Mike Crozier

Mike Crozier

As Professor Phinneas Phlegm

Travelling Salesman

WantedDead or alive

Sean DeVries

As Jimmy Jessup

Outlaw

WantedDead or alive

Freyja Tinsley

As The Chetzemoka Kid

Jessup's Sidekick

WantedDead or alive
Megan DeVries

Megan DeVries

As Continence Stillwater

Temperance Crusader

WantedDead or alive

Matt Poarch

As Jubal Hill

Prospector

WantedDead or alive

Ashley Schenkel

As Maude Hill

Prospector

WantedDead or alive

Cade Woolf

As Doc Hollandaise

Town Physician

WantedDead or alive

Emily Holmes

As Roxie

Palace Fancy Lady

WantedDead or alive
Ramon Dailey

Ramon Dailey

As Tex Arkansas

Singing Cowboy

Tickets

Claim your seat before the posse does

Tickets typically sell out. They are advance sale only, and sales close November 30 so the caterer gets a proper headcount. Every ticket is will-call at the door.

$60per person · dinner & show

Fastest

Buy online

Pick your night and pay on Zeffy. Separate listings for Friday and Saturday. Done in a minute.

Buy on Zeffy

Tables of six

Reserve a table

Bring your crew, your family, or your whole office. Contact Mary Crozier to hold a table of six for either night.

Email Mary

or call 360-531-0200

By post

Mail an order form

Prefer paper? Print the order form, fill it out, and send it in with a check.

2026 Order Form (PDF)

Getting there

The scene of the crime

Oscar Erickson Building
Jefferson County Fairgrounds
4907 Landes Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368

The fairgrounds sit on the north end of town. Turn in off Landes Street and follow the signs to the Erickson Building. Plenty of parking, and no hitching posts required.

Open in Google Maps
Hand-drawn map of the Jefferson County Fairgrounds showing the Oscar Erickson Building
Fairgrounds map. The Erickson Building is marked.

Past shows

Twenty years of foul play

Every title the Players have staged since the first body dropped in 2006. Seventeen shows, no survivors.

  1. 2006Death in Dem Dar Hills
  2. 2007The Speakeasy
  3. 2008Murder Is Goode
  4. 2009Murder in Space
  5. 2010Til Death
  6. 2012Next Stop: Murder
  7. 2013The Speakeasier
  8. 2015Murder Dot Com
  9. 2016America's Next Top Monster
  10. 2017Prescription for Murder
  11. 2018Where Everybody Wants You Dead
  12. 2019SesaMEAN Streets
  13. 2022Heist Society
  14. 2023Murder in the Magical Kingdom
  15. 2024Murder InClueded
  16. 2025Lord of the Office
  17. 2026Once Upon a Time in Port Townsend
2022 cast of Heist Society on stage
2022 · Heist Society
2019 cast of SesaMEAN Streets with puppets
2019 · SesaMEAN Streets
2018 cast of Where Everybody Wants You Dead
2018 · Where Everybody Wants You Dead
2017 cast of Prescription for Murder
2017 · Prescription for Murder